This weekend our family has been in Oregon for a family reunion of sorts. This family is the family from our youth group years under Luke and Donna Hendrix. Tonight was a time of remembering fun, embarrassing, and pivotal moments growing up under mentors who loved us unconditionally and modeled God's grace in a very tangible way. It was so fun reconnecting with friends we grew up with. Seeing some friends who our family was super close with now with a whole new generation was super cool. Partly this was cool because for me, this is where I consider to have grown up. So when I come back and get to see friends from those years-it is the closest to "going back home" that I know. It was also neat realizing the network and relationships my parents and our family had here at that time. What an amazing thing to be close with people who have been there for many many things over time. It was also really cool to be in a setting where we recognized as a group that Luke, Donna, Gabe, Dianne, Rich, Elly, Tim, Peggy and others had poured into our lives and God had multiplied that effort immensely. As Donna said, it was a time of great fruitfulness. And like Luke said, that was solely because of God's graciousness to them and to us. As he wrapped up the evening and talked about how unexplainable this whole thing is without God orchestrating and pouring out on us, I agreed wholeheartedly! This time was foundational for me, and many, and while God used the obedience of our leaders, it was His good thing that I got to be part of. That moment existed as just a moment here on earth. In eternity though, that is what it will be like. A sweet reunion of fellowship and togetherness and being "home" with Jesus, our Lord and Savior! The cool part about God is that when he brings us into his story, we are not the only plot-there are many others experiencing amazing grace in other places and situations too. His story is so beyond us and yet when we have those times we should soak in the moment. We should "ride the wave" of God's grace like Luke said.
I'm so thankful for each of the leaders from that time in my life. I'm so thankful for God's goodness and choosing to pour out grace upon me in that time and since then. I'm so thankful to be experiencing a new wave of grace the last 2 years and eagerly look forward to our new ministry and what God might do in that and in us! How have you been blessed by the richness of God's grace this weekend
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AuthorsCarolyn & (sometimes) Ty Archives
March 2016
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